Print color negs on B&W paper?

[flatulent1]

Can I print color negs on B&W paper? I'm excavating the family archives and discovered some color negs that I think I'd like B&W prints of. (Printing in color is not an option available to me.) How do I go about this? Thanks.

 

[Jon Shiu]

Yes you can do it with regular VC paper. Start with a high filter, like a 4. Expect exposures to be long.
Jon

 

[brucemuir]

There used to be Panalure paper for this but like alot of materials isn't available these days.

I think tone relationships will be different then they would be from a silver neg of the same scene.
As Jon mentions contrast is low.

Good luck, I'd be interested in how it turns out for you.

 

[Athiril]

Are you printing yourself in a total analogue workflow?

You could enlarge onto some Shanghai 8x10 film and use that as a backlit display haha.

 

[Manhattan]

Lately, I have been printing color negs in black and white on Ilford Multigrade IV glossy fiber paper, and I have been getting good results. I have used a #4 filter, but I have been getting better results using a #31/2. Printing times have been in the 30 seconds to 40 seconds range. Hope this helps.

 

[Photo Engineer]

It is not a good idea to print color negatives on VC paper. The variations in color act as contrast control filters and cause odd tone scales to appear in the print as color varies.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

It is not a good idea to print color negatives on VC paper. The variations in color act as contrast control filters and cause odd tone scales to appear in the print as color varies.

PE

What he said.

Steve

 

[removed account4]

the tonal pallet would be like printing from a black and white paper negative ...

you could always try to print a few, and see how you like the way the film is rendered ...
( the attached image is a 4x5 fujichrome printed on azo )

have fun !
john

 

[holmburgers]

Give it a shot. This is something that everyone thinks about and everyone wonders about, but rarely DO! Myself included.

Try it on normal VC paper and I'm sure that pleasing results are possible. For the adventurous, buy some Ilfospeed RC Digital (sic) which is a completely panchromatic paper and could theoretically translate the tonality accurate. That too is "taboo" but would be worthy of investigation.

 

[jeff.blackwell]

I have a few unopened boxes of Panalure paper, specially designed for printinf color negs on B & W paper. Email me if you're interested.

 

[Roger Cole]

I miss Panalure (or would if I shot more color neg which I might if I could readily get Panalure...) I didn't know about the Ilfospeed RC Digital until this thread. Googling shows it only available in long rolls - very long and thus expensive rolls. Wonder what the odds would be of talking Harman into selling it in sheets?

 

[piu58]

I tried this many years age, on fix graduated paper. In principle it work of course, but you get strange grey values. Especially skin tones are affected, people looks much older.

 

[Ian Grant]

Have to agree with others that the results are often rather disappointing.

This is one area where scanning etc is by far the best route. Save your B&W paper to make prints from B&W negatives

Ian

 

[Roger Cole]

The last version of Panalure actually worked very well provided the negative had close to normal contrast. Results on non-panchromatic paper either graded or VC were usually awful. The insensitivity to red and orange often made normal negatives print as if very grainy in addition to the strange contrast effects on VC. The grainy effect was worse on graded paper due to the wider insensitivity.

 

[ann]

I have had student do this, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. However, with someone who really really works hard to work with the process they have been successful.

As has been mentioned contrast is something to deal with along with longer exposures due to the orange masking.

If these are important negatives, why not give it a try. Keep good notes so you can use that information for others (at least a starting point)

 

[vpwphoto]

It's such a frustration to print color negs on B+W. Unless you are a die-hard APUG... this is a job for a scanner and Photoshop.

 

[faustotesta]

I tried sometimes to do this (colour negative to BW paper). See the "Unvoluntary High Key portrait" in standard gallery.
Generally i got the best results from 120 negatives.

 

[jeffreyg]

I agree with those suggesting scanning. You could carry that further by scanning, printing a monochrome negative and using that for a traditional darkroom wet print. Then discuss it on the DPUG site.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[flatulent1]

Thanks all. I am doing a completely analog workflow, as I have no scanner and don't know diddly about Photoshop. I'm taking a B&W darkroom class, so I have some printing options available to me. (The darkroom instructor was generally discouraging when I popped this question.) As to the photos themselves, I wouldn't necessarily call them 'important', more like 'gee I'm glad I took that one and I'd like another'.

This is a case where the results are more important than the process, especially as there aren't a whole lot of color negs I want to do, so perhaps Panalure is my best option. Thanks again.

 

[Rick A]

Printing color negs on B&W paper works [best] on hard graded bromide papers. Grade 4 or 5 is best to achieve any contrast with printing times in the minutes. I've had moderate success on Kodabrom II grades 4 and 5.

 

[holmburgers]

I have a few unopened boxes of Panalure paper, specially designed for printinf color negs on B & W paper. Email me if you're interested.

If I wasn't currently trying to come to terms with my "hoarding" I'd be PMing this guy...

 

[Chris Lange]

Interestingly enough, I have had a good deal of success printing cross processed Velvia 100f onto Ilford MGIV FB. I generally print these at a grade 5, and it's definitely a look that is an acquired taste, very grainy, very gritty, but very sharp. Printing times for a 15x15 inches with a Beseler 45MX condenser were about 35 seconds. 120 format velvia, by the way.

 

[Clay2]

Along with Panalure, the old Kodak Kodabromide paper gave fair results. I once tried Ilford
Multicontrast with poor results. All you can do is experiment with various papers.
Best regards,
/Clay

 

[Aurum]

Many moons ago I tried this on straight grade RC paper ( a grade 4 or 5 IIRC) Gave a sort of old style ortho effect, but with a lot of work. Looooooong exposure required

 

[Gerald C Koch]

To get useable prints you really need a panchromatic paper. This is particularly true of there are people in the photos. Red lips will become black and blue eyes will be very light.